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Manorham F.C.
| dissolved = | ground = Enterprise Stadium at Franklin Road | capacity = 19,000 | owner = | chairman = | manager = Steve Cross | coach = | currentleague = League A | currentposition = | lastseason = | lastleagueb = League B | lastposition = 4th (promoted via playoffs) | current = | website = | firstgame = | largestwin = | worstdefeat = | topscorer = | fansgroup = | honours = | American = }} Manorham Football Club is a professional football club based in the Appleton-Manorham district of Cape Wells, St. Gregory. The team plays in League A, the top tier of the St. Gregory Football Association. Manorham were the second club from the city of Cape Wells to join the SGFA, two years after their fierce local rivals, Cape Wells Wanderers. The club enjoyed its greatest success in the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, winning a league and cup double in 1986 and then going on to win both competitions two more times. Despite their successful beginnings, the club have fell from the top of the standings in recent years and have not won a major competition (league or cup) since their SGFA Cup title in 1994. The team plays its home games at the 19,000-capacity Franklin Road ground. History Manorham began play in the SGFA's third season, 1981-82. The club did not have their own stadium at the time and so played their home matches at Wanderers Stadium, the home of their cross-town rivals, until 1986. The team struggled in their first two seasons, finishing last out of 8 teams both seasons before climbing to 6th in 1983-84 and 5th in 1984-85. The following year, with the SGFA expanding to two leagues and the acquisition of several key players, Manorham stunned the nation by becoming the first expansion club to win what had that year been renamed from the SGFA Championship to League A. They also defeated North Bonneville in the 1986 SGFA Cup Final to capture their first two trophies in quick succession in the form of a league and cup double. The 2017-18 League A season saw Manorham slump to an unfamiliar place at the foot of the table. Injuries and poor form saw the Hammers dig themselves a hole which not even a breakout season from youth product Bailey Monelle could pull them out of. After grappling with Helena Point Rangers for the relegation playoff place, Manorham lost the final three games of the season, including a must-win 2-1 decision against RivalSport on the final day that confirmed Manorham's first relegation in club history. They were promoted back to League A at the first time of asking, however, finishing 4th in 2018-19 and qualifying for the playoffs, where they defeated Starrs County in the semi-finals and then Winston Beach in the final to mark their return to the top flight. Crest, colors and nickname Manorham's famous color combination of red and green, is a reference to the Appleton neighborhood in which they are based; both colors are associated with apples. The team is nicknamed The Hammers, both as a reference to the ''-ham'' in their name and a nod to West Ham United, from whom fans have taken inspiration with several of their traditions. The two clubs have since formed an alliance (see below), which resulted in Manorham's crest undergoing a redesign in 2014 to incorporate Green Street House, formerly featured on the crest of the English club. Originally, the club's kits consisted of green and red vertical stripes with white shorts and red socks; however, in 1986-87, the club unveiled a shirt with a vertical split design, mimicking the crest. This design prevailed through Manorham's golden years in the late 80s and early 90s. A 10-year kit deal was signed with Adidas in 2004, which resulted in more generic template-based designs and saw the team adopt primarily green shirts, with red relegated to a trim color. In 2014, Manorham signed a new deal with Umbro, who will be the new supplier of the club's uniforms for the next 6 seasons. After receiving input from fans, Umbro announced that the home shirt would be returning to the popular vertical split red and green design. Kit manufacturers and sponsors Affiliations Manorham have had a technical alliance with Premier League club West Ham United since 2013. The partnership between the two clubs was the first such official agreement between a Premier League club and a League A club. Select Manorham youth players receive coaching at West Ham's "Academy of Football," and West Ham reserve players have spent time on loan at Manorham to gain first-team playing experience. The club also operate their own reserve and youth sides. Manorham also intended to enter a women's club in the inaugural Women's League A season, however financial constraints forced the club to shelve this plan indefinitely. Support Traditionally, Manorham's fan base has consisted predominantly of upper-middle-class residents of Cape Wells' affluent western suburbs, although the club's affiliation with West Ham United has proved popular and attracted supporters who identify more with a blue-collar image. Red and Green Elite, Manorham's first "official" ultra-fanatical supporters group, was formed in 2014. The name is a reference to the Green Street Elite, the fictional West Ham hooligan firm that formed the basis of the 2005 film, Green Street. Rivalries :See also: Cape Wells derby Manorham's oldest and most heated rivalry is the local derby with Cape Wells Wanderers, a local rivalry that has existed almost as long as professional football in the territory. Although founded 18 years after their civic rivals, Manorham's entry into the SGFA in 1981 came only two years after the formation of what is now League A, when Wanderers were brought in as a charter member of the association. In the early years of the SGFA, when clubs consisted mainly of locally-sourced players, Manorham and Wanderers would compete for the same pool of players in Cape Wells, which often resulted in neighborhoods and sometimes even families being divided as the best players in the city chose one or the other. Manorham's second League A championship, in 1988-89, was also the first season in which Wanderers were relegated to League B. In the mid-1990s, a competitive rivalry burgeoned between Manorham and Bonneville United which culminated in the two sides meeting in consecutive cup finals in 1994 and 1995. Manorham won the 1994 Final, 3-0, with Andy Morton scoring the first (and to date only) hat-trick in an SGFA Cup Final, while United won the rematch in 1995, 1-0, on a Steve Stratton goal. Manorham fans refer to this goal as "the Stratton curse" as the club are yet to win a league or cup title since the match. Players Current squad : As of August 21, 2019 Note: Players without a flag are from St. Gregory. Players with an asterisk (*) are from outside the United States or its territories, or have represented a non-U.S. territory at international level, but hold either citizenship or permanent residency in the U.S. and thus do not count towards the league cap on foreign players. 'Retired numbers' : 12 - The fans (aka the 12th man) Out on loan Reserves and Academy :Further information: Manorham F.C. Reserves and Academy Former players :Further information: Category:Manorham F.C. players Managerial history :Further information: Category:Manorham F.C. managers Honors * League A :*'Champions (3)': 1985-86, 1988-89, 1991-92 * League B :*'Playoff Champions (1)': 2018-19 * SGFA Cup :*'Winners (3)': 1985-86, 1990-91, 1993-94 * SGFA Shield :*'Winners (2)': 1992, 1994 Category:Club pages Category:Manorham F.C.